In this talk Nikkel Blaase introduces »product thinking« as an advanced mindset applied to UX design and product management. Before designing a user experience and investing time and energy, product thinking can discern whether the experience is worth using.

We need to understand the user experience as a whole, not purely as the design of features. The core user experience is the job for which users “hire” the product. Identifying these jobs that a product solves is to identify the core user experience. We need to start thinking in terms of the product first, and the features afterwards.

Sitting at the intersection between user experience and product management, product thinking gives us the ability to build the right features for the right people. It makes sure we tackle real user problems, uncovers the job-to-be-done, and reduces the risk of building something nobody wants. Approaching product development with this mindset enables UX designers and product managers to ask the right questions, to build the right features, and to communicate with stakeholders more efficiently.

After introducing product thinking Nikkel shows how to apply this mindset to product development and design, goes through the main benefits of using it, and discusses possible pitfalls.